WORK FOR APRIL

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29791, 6 April 1962, Page 6

WORK FOR APRIL

April is the- turn of the year, when we are both clearing up this season’s jobs, and getting prepared for next. Your activitity now can consolidate both years’ activity! Vegetable Garden Store mature crops for the winter months. Onions and shallots should be lifted by now, and well repay good curing in a sunny spot. Neck rot has increased in importance in recent years, and. it is liable to be encouraged by the frequently-carried-out process of stringing. Store them flat in single layers if you can. Pumpkins and marrows should be stored in a frost-free spot, and the least mature should be used first. Carrot, beet and parsnip may be stored in dry sand if you want the ground for another crop, although they will keep well in the open ground. If you suffer from parsnip canker, however —brown markings around Ute shoulders—it will definitely be reduced in severity by sand storage. Tomatoes may be ripened indoors if you have to pick them green. Sowing. Broad beans may be sow-n towards the end of the month —there’s no rush, though. Choose longpod for preference, they’re hardier. Onion Pukekohe Longkeeper should be sown immediately if you didn’t do so last month. This sowing will provide spring transplants for an early maturing crop next summer. In favoured spots you can sow carrots, peas and winter lettuce, such as Imperial 615. but don't waste your time doing this if your district is at all cool. Planting. Spring cabbage such as Flower of Spring may be planted now at 18 by 12-inch spacing, and winter lettuce. In very mild districts, cauliflower and silver beet may be planted now, too. General work includes earthing up celery and leeks if this has not been done. Perhaps you are growing some of the new green celery, however. This recentlyintroduced strain needs no blanching, and according to trials at the Horticultural Research Station at Levin is just as succulent as the normal varieties. The variety Tall Utah emerged as the best of all. Remove the tops of asparagus as they turn yellow and before they drop many berries; top-dress rhubarb beds—most gardeners give them a thrashing with little sustenance in return. Three to four ounces to the square yard of the following mixture will do wonders: 3 parts each of sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate, and 1 part of potash sulphate. Get started on the winter digging as soon as you can. before the soil gets too wet. A lime dressing of 3 to 4oz per square yard will be beneficial on most soils. Flower Garden Get on top of the weeds now, whilst there is still enough warmth to shrivel them when chopped off with the hoe. Once the soil stays moist all day it is very difficult to get much control of weeds with a hoe. Clearing-up. Annuals may be removed as they go out of flower, and the ground dug over and prepared for spring bedding; herbaceous border plants may be cut back towards the end of the month when flowering finishes, although it is as well to leave some top growth on if you are in a cold district. Leaves should be collected and composted as they fall. Leaf mould is a valuable material, and it is as well to stack leaves separately if you have any quantity of them. Flanting and Sowing. Spring bedding .should be planted as space becomes available. Plants such as polyanthus, winter-flowering pansy, brompton stock, forget-me-not, bellis (double daisy), tulips and hyacinth are all suitable for planting now. Iceland poppy and Canterbury bell may be added to the list, although they have a tendency to continue flowering after others have stopped and interfere with planting summer bedding. Annual borders may be sown if you don’t delay. Choose winter-hardy plants such as pot marigold, larkspur, clarkia, nigella and so on. There’s a good range available. Evergreens may be planted this month, giving them a chance to become established whilst the ground is still warm. Don’t forget to order shrubs and roses whilst the nurseryman still has adequate stocks. General Work. Commence fertiliser treatment of lawns this month. It may seem an odd time of year, but trials at the Turf Research Institute at Palmerston North show that the best response is obtained from dressings of the usual 3 and 1 mixture of sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate, at hoz per square yard from April until September. Cuttings of evergreen may be prepared this month, and also hardwood cuttings later on in the month. A dressing of sawdust about an inch deep over the shrub borders will help to hold winter moisture and suppress weed growth. Fruit Garden Plant strawberries this month. An early, midseason and late variety will provide a good succession of fruit Cambridge Favourite, either Red Gauntlet or Merton Princess, and Talisman will provide such a succession. Space at 24 inches by 15. Gather your apples as they become mature, and store them in a cool dark place. Only put sound fruits in store, however, for bruised or broken-skin fruits are liable to infect good fruit. If you have a small fruit orchard, why not try grassing it down? Working conditions are much more pleasant than where the soil is cultivated. A mixture of equal parts Chewing? fescue, brown-top and white clover, sown at x 4oz per square yard, without delay, will provide » very pleasant surface.